Thirds to timothy merrick and george n



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.. W. R. LANDPEAR.

MAIL GANOELING AND POSTMARKING MACHINE.

No. 487,278; Patelgted Dec. 6, 1892.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. R. LANDFEAR. MAIL GANGELING AND POSTMARKING MACHINE.

No. 487,278. Patented Dec. 6, 1892.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM R. LANDFEAR, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF TWO- THIRDS TO TIMOTHY MERRICK AND GEORGE N. TYNER, OF HOLYOKE,

MASSACHUSETTS.

MAlL-CANCELING AND POSTMARKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 487,278, dated December 6, 1892.

Application filed July 22, 1891. Serial No. 400,292. (No model-i To all whom it may concern.-

' Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. LANDFEAR, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mail Canceling and Postmarking Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in mail canceling and postmarking machines in which a receiving-hopper is adapted to direct the letters deposited therein to the point where they are to be operated upon by the canceling and printing device and a printing and a canceling cylinder or wheel serves, in connection with an impressionpad and stops, to release the letters one at a time and draw them from the receiving-hopper.

My invention further contemplates the employment of an auxiliary roller for imparting to the inking-roller motion from the printing cylinder or wheel while the ink is being applied to it.

The general object in View is to provide a simple and durable machine which can be furnished at a comparatively light cost and which is well adapted to use in connection with the business of the greater number of the.

post-offices throughout this and other countries.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of the machine in front elevation. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through line m a: of Fig. 1 at right angles to the actuating-shaft. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the receiving-hopper. Figs. 4: and 5 are diagrams of a portion of the machine in the plane of the section shown in Fig. 2, representing the position of a letter after it is released from the stop nearest the discharge end of the hopper and the position of a letler after it has passed the second stop, and is under the control of the printing and canceling cylinder and impression-roller; and Fig. 6 represents the position of the parts when the ink-roller is receiving the ink.

The supporting-frame comprises a plate A, adapted to be screwed to the under side of a table or other suitable support at such height as may be convenient for operating the machine, and a depending flange a at one edge of the plate A. In the present instance I have shown the depending flange a as formed integral with the plateAand extending a short distance above the plate, as well as below it, and provided with a recess a, which forms when covered by the front plate B the receiving-hopper. I have formed the flange a so as to extend in a direction oblique to the plane of the plate A and have formed the recess a or interior of the hopper with its ends substantially parallel and gradually contracting in width from its top to its bottom and the recess also gradually contracting in size from the edge or end a against which the letter would naturally fall under the influence of gravity, toward the opposite edge or end a as is clearly shown in Fig. 3. As the edges of the interior surface of the flange Ct contain lines which lie in different planes, it follows that said surface is other than a plane surface, and, as a matter of fact, it winds from its bottom upwardly and outwardly. By so forming the hopper and setting it oblique to the plane of the table the letters when deposited in the hopper, no matter how carelessly they be tossed therein, will seek to arrange themselves with one of their edges against the side a of the hopper and will present their ends, where the stamp is to be canceled and the postmark applied, in position to be operated upon by the canceling and printing mechanism.

The front plate B is provided with a pair of arms or lugs b, projecting outwardly from its edges and provided in their ends with bearings b for the reception of the operating-shaft O. The front plate B is adapted to be fastened to the edges of the flange a by screws or any other well-known or suitable fastening device and forms, as before stated, the front wall of the hopper.

On the shaft 0, intermediate of the arms Z), the canceling and printing cylinder or wheel D is fixed and provided on its face with the canceling and printing type. In the present instance the canceling-type consists of a series of parallel ribs 0, adapted to print a series of parallel lines across the stamp on the letter, and a ring 0, provided with type for indicating the name of the'post-office' and the State and with removable type forthe date, &c.. as is common.

Motion is imparted to the shaft carrying the wheel D by means of a band-pulley E, located thereon and adapted to be connected with a source of power. any Well-known or suitable construction may be employed instead of the pulley. The face of the wheel D is so located with respect to the discharge end of the hopper that the type thereon will come into contact with the side of the letter as it projects through the mouth of the hopper. An impression-pad consisting of a cylinder F of elastic material is loosely mounted on a stud g, projecting laterallyfrom the end of a depending swinging arm G, pivota -l'ly' secured to the rearside of the flange a.

to throw the impression-roller F toward the face of the printing-cylinder D, and the dista'nceof' the said impression-rollerfrom the face of the printing-cylinder may be determined by means of an adjusting-screw g seated in a threaded socket forniedin a lug on the arm G, the point of the screw having a bearing against the back of the flange a.

The printing-cylinder D is provided with an annular spur-gear d, which 'in'termeshes with a corresponding gear d on the impres= sion-roller and causes the two rollers to move together.

In addition to the adjusting-screw to holdv the impression-roller at any desired distance away from the wheel D,I provide an annular rim d 'arou'nd the periphery of the wheel D in proximity to the gear d, the face'of said rim org-hide being adapted to bear upon a corresponding rim or guide 61 on the roller F, so as to hold at all times the face'of the roller F sufficiently far from the face of the Wheel D to prevent the canceling and print ing type from hearing against and s'mutting the face of the roller F. Thecanceling and printing type is on a base 0 which stands out a short distance from the periphery of the rolle'rD, and in order that the letter may be carried-forward and discharged from between the rollers D and F after the canceling and printing has been completed I providea partial annular bearing-rim 0 the face of which forms a continuation of the face of the base 0 so as to clamp the letter between it' and the roller F sufficiently to give it an advance movement A swinging stop H is pivotally secured to the front of the plate B and has one of its branches h extended downwardly along the plate and underneath the dischargeopening in the hopper, so as to arrest a letter deposited within the hopper. Another branch it extends forwardly in proximity to the end of the wheel or cylinder D and is operated upon at the proper moment by means of a laterally-projecting stud 71?, set in the end of thewheel, so as to swing the said stop in a direction to allow the letter to drop freely (Not shown.) A crank of through-the discharge end'o-r the-hopper. As the letter falls it is again arrested by means of a spring-actuated foot-piece I, which is mounted on the arm G, so as to swing against the tension of the spring 6 in a direction to allow the letter to be carried out of the hopper between the wheel or cylinder D and the roller F. The stop I is intended to arrest the letter as it falls from the stop II just long enough to allow the canceling and printing type to seize it. After the stop H has been swung in the direction to allow the letter to drop onto the stop I it will be allowed to return to its normal position under the tension of its actuating-spring h so as to arrest any subsequentletter which may be deposited in the hopper before the letter last released shall have bee-n drawn therefrorm p g'exerts its tension in a direction a An inking-roller K of some suitable absorbent material-much, forexample asfeltis mounted loosely upon a laterall'y projecting stud Z'at the end of'a spring-'actuated-swinging arm L, piv'otally secured to the frontof l the plate B, the tension of the actuating-spring Z being exerted in the direction to hold the pad normally in posi-tionto supply ink" to the canceling and printing type on the cylinder or wheel'D. The position of the inking-pad is determined by means of an adjusting-screw Z seated in a screw-threaded socket l ndepen'ding from the inner end of the arm L, the point of the screw bearing against the front of the'plate'B.

In order to impart to the inking-rollera rotary movement for the purpose of receiving ink thereon-=as, for example, from a brush held against its face-*and at the'same time prevent the freshly-inked surface from smutting the face of the wheel or cylinder D, I provide the end of the inking-roller with=an operating-rim k and mount an auxiliary roller or connecting and releasing roller M upon a swinging arm m, pivotally secured to 'thear'm .L, so that the said roller M maybe swung either by hand or other well-known or approved means into position between the bearing-rim on the inking roller K andthe bearing rim d on the wheel D, as shown in dotted outline in Fig. 2, causing the inking-roller K to besprung more or less'away from the wheel D, and sufficient friction is thereby formed between the periphery of the roller M and its bearings upon the rims k and d to cause the inking-roller to be rotated by therotation of the wheel D. When a sufficient amount of ink has been applied, the roller M may he swung back by hand or'other well-known or approved means out of position between the rims 7c and d where it may rest idly upon the rim (P, and the inking-roller will then resu me its position.

NVhat I claim is- I 1. In a mail-cancelingmachine, areceiv'ing hopper having a position oblique to'the'horizontal plane, its ends substantiallyparallel and gradually contracting in width from the aware of the inking-roller, a movablesupport in which the inking-roller is mounted to permit it to move into and outof engagementwith the canceling wheel or cylinder, an intermediate roller, and a swinging support in which the intermediate roller is mounted, whereby the intermediate roller is swung into and out of position between the canceling wheel or cylinder and a bearing-rim on the inking-roller, substantially as set forth.

WVILLIAM R. LANDFEAR. Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, K. E. PEMBLETON. 

